Book 6 (in my mind)
by PeterPanGuy04
Summary: What should happens in book 6 of the keeper of the lost cities series from my mind. :) warning: SOPHITZ WILL BE PROMINENT! (But of course not forced. And I'll add sokeefe moments to but just be warned SOPHITZ will dominate! :)
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THESE WORLDS AND MANY OF THEIR CHARACTERS! THEY ALL BELONG TO THE GREAT AND POWERFUL SHANNON MESSENGER! ANY SIMILARITIES BETWEEN MY STORY AND THE ACTUAL BOOK 6 OF KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES IS ENTIRELY COINCIDENTAL!**

 **I know that there are already a lot of people doing this but I wanted to make my own version. I would write a prolouge but... I'm horrible at prolouges. So here is chapter one starting right after book 5 left off. Enjoy!**

Millions of emotions warred inside Sophie's mind as her sister's own confused thoughts filled her mind. She had the urge to both run and give her sister a hug and leap away immediately.

"Uh Sophie? I think we should go." Fitz said slowly backing up.

"We can't. She saw the Neverseen take Sophie's parents. She heard them. We need her so we can maybe find out where they took them." Keefe said.

"I guess your right." Fitz replied sighing.

"You guess." Keefe mumbled shooting an 'are you kidding me' look at Sophie but she didn't pay any attention to him. Her brain was playing two things on auto repeat. The Neverseen had her family. Her sister remembered her. She couldn't take it all in and she saw her vision suddenly rim black and her knees began to wobble.

"Woah, easy there." Fitz said, holding her steady. She blushed. Now was not the time for fainting. It was the time for action. She quickly tied her exhaustion and despair deep into the knot in her stomach and let her fury and determination take they're place. She turned her attention back to her wide-eyed sister. She began to move forward and her sister suddenly jerkedto life like she'd just woken up.

"Who are you? How do you know me?" She said slowly backing up, fear and confusion clouded in her eyes.D

"It's okay, we're here to help you, I promise." Sophie replied, trying to keep her voice as soothing as possible. Her sister stopped and her brows knit together in concentration.

"Karaoke machine." She said suddenly. "What did you do with it?" _Her_ face suddenly switched from one of annoyance to surprise. "Why do I remember that?"she said almost to herself. Sophie could only stare. She remembered back when she'd lived a normal human life with her human parents she'd stolen her sisters karaoke machine and hidden it just so she wouldn't have to listen to her sisters off-key singing. But after all those years, THAT was the memory that surfaced first? But she could see the image of her sisters machine and could see, from her thoughts that she was both extremely confused about the random memories popping up out of nowhere, and had an overpowering want to throw a shoe at Sophie's head until she gave her back her favorite toy. Sophie was about to interupt her sisters thoughts by saying they had more important things to worry about when she heard a loud crash from behind and saw the front door of the Freeman house fly off its hinges. She heard her overprotective goblin bodygaurd's nasal voice even before she saw his lumbering shape.

"SOPHIE?" He called inside. Amy screamed as he rounded the corner. Sandor took in the scene immediately and slowly turned around. "Uh, Alden? We have a situation." He called back outside and Alden flew in before he'd even finished, melder in hand. "What's wrong? What's..." He stopped when he too, took in the scene before him.

"Dad." Fitz warned as Alden began to approached them. He simply brushed by him and so quick, that Sophie barely saw him move, he jumped towards Amy and tapped her right temple. Half a scream escaped her lips before she fell forward into his arms, fast asleep.

"What..." Was all Sophie could get out before her voice crumbled away.

"And old telepathy trick." He said, a small smile on his lips. His gaze suddenly turned stern. "I thought I warned you not to let anybody see you." He said, shaking his head. " We'll have to have a washer come and erase her memories now. And I have no idea what I'm going to say to the council."

"No we can't." Fitz said. Alden just stared at him.

"Why not?" he replied. Fitz opened his mouth to say something but no sound came out.

"The Neverseen took Sophie's parents. Only one person saw what happened." Keefe interjected pointing too Amy's slumped figure.

"She may know something about where they took them or why. We need to search her memories." Fitz added when he was able to talk again. Alden sighed, his eyes sad.

"I understand." He replied, his gaze turning to Sophie. "I'm dreadfully sorry about your parents Sophie. I promise I'll hail the collective so we can meet on this turn of events." He paused and said the next words as if they pained him. "I... Guess we'll sneak her into Everglen where she can stay until we've found her parents and they can safely be relocated. But you have to understand that she MUST be relocated. Don't get to used to your sister Sophie, for she will have to have her memories erased. You understand right?"

Sophie could only manage a nod. She watched as he picked up her sister's limp body and walked out the door. She moved to follow and felt Fitz's hand slip into her left, and Keefe's in her right.

"When this all settles I want to hear more about your little Karaoke thieving moment. And any moment of rebellion you've had after." He laughed when she sighed. "You know Foster, it's quickly becoming my life long destiny to someday know every secret you posses. In fact, I just might beat wonderboy here." Keefe said, his signature smirk plastered on his face.

"I wouldn't bet on it." Fitz replied, raising an eyebrow at Keefe then turning his gaze to Sophie. "We're almost there." He said. "She owes me a favor, so it's only a matter of time." He winked at Sophie and despite her current situation she felt her cheeks heat up. Out of the corner of her eye she say Keefe's expression grow sour, but decided to ignore it. "We'll save for parents Sophie, I promise." I Fitz transmitted, squeezing her hand. She wanted to believe him. She wanted to sink into that promise and let it drown out her worries. But she knew he was wrong. The Neverseen had her parents. And she had a feeling that the game they were playing was about to get a whole lot harder.

 **Yay! Chapter 2 _should_ be up soon. *bites nails* and I hope this is good! I wrote the whole thing once and it all erased so I had to write it again. *shivers at the memory* anyway, PLEASE REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, sorry it took so long to get this up. Been wrestling for a while with the novel I'm writing. (it's being especially stubborn) Anyway, HERES THE REVIEW RESPONSES! (Not many but it's a start! :))**

 _ **Sophitzlover: Thank you! And of course romance will be added!(why else does anybody read anything XD)**_

 ** _Project-Moonlark: Thanks! I'm sure the more I'll write the better I'll be! :)_**

 **HERE WE GO!**

Sophie stared at her sister's limp form sprawled across Everglen's guest bed. Her chest rose and fell with gentle breathing, her face peaceful. Whatever Alden had done to her was keeping her knocked out cold. Sophie herself sat on the elegant carpet, her own eyelashes slowly forming a tiny pile at her feet. Her nervous habit. She had long ago decided to stop scolding herself for having it. Alden had hailed Grady and Edaline and explained everything as soon as they had leaped home. He definitely didn't want to draw any attention to the fact Amy is here, but due to the excessive insisting her parents were capable of, Alden had finally relented to them coming over. They had comforted her, and then had returned to face the collective which had been slowly gathering in the dining hall. Sophie wasn't ready to plan. She didn't want to talk to anyone. Which is why she had been eternally grateful to Fitz when he'd suggested discussing how to assist things there, shooting her a look of understanding as he lead everyone out the door. Now she sat alone, wishing her sister would wake up. For the first time she really looked hard at her. She had hair was shorter and she wasn't nearly as chubby as she used to be. Sophie smiled at that and her eyes filled with tears. She stood up and walked over, slowly kneeling at the edge of her bed. She softly brushed a strand of hair away from her face. Her sister's cheek was scrunched up, pressed against her pillow and a tiny thread of drool had settled at the edge of her lip. Sophie smiled again and her mind flashed to the many memories she'd had with her sister before she met Fitz. Watching movies and fighting over the blanket. The many dinners she shared with her human family , setting the table, getting splashed with water as she did the dishes. All things that to Sophie had been regular, now felt so foreign. She leaned back and turned her stare away from her sister's sleeping form. That was all the past and it didn't matter how she felt about it. Amy would never witness again those simple joys unless Sophie found a way to get her parents back. The thought broke her heart further. She was scared for her parents. She had no idea what the Neverseen wanted with them and how she was going to save them. But worse of all she felt deep inside that it was her fault. Her parents hadn't chose to raise an elf child but they did. And they had loved her with all their heart. And look what they got in return. And so she let the gentle sobs she'd been holding in slip past her lips and fill the empty room, mixing harmoniously with Amy's soft snores. She didn't know how long she sat there crying when a strong pair of arms wrapped around her and she lay her head against the newcomer's shoulders. She knew it was Fitz even before she felt his soft hands stroking her hair or heard his deep voice whispering comforting words. This was not the first time she'd cried into him the way she was now and she let herself sink into his strong no longer wanted to be alone. And so they sat there, her tears soaking the shoulder of his tunic letting the world fall away. She would be strong later. Now she wished she could stay exactly where she was forever. When she could, she lifted her head from his shoulder.

"It's all my fault.' She said, her voice barely a whisper. Her heart heaved with the confession.

"You know that's not true." He replied gently, his breath warm on her cheeks. She kept her face pointed downward. "Sophie," he continued. "There is nothing that you did that could have been the cause of this. Everyone knows that. Your stronger than anything that opposes you. Even guilt. Don't let guilt in Sophie, please. Push past it and..." He paused a moment. "Focus on what matters." He lifted her head and she saw the concern in his alluring teal eyes. She nodded and leaned her head back on his shoulder.

" I'm not sure I know what matters." She confessed tilting her head upwards and staring into his eyes, trying to gauge his reaction. She saw a plume of warmth light in his now intense eyes as he looked at her and her heart began to swell.

"I am, Sophie." He said laying his hand on hers. "I've never been more sure of anything in my life" She stared into his eyes and her heart swelled even further. She heard clumpy steps and the sounds off arguing from outside her door. It suddenly opened and Sophie scrambled away from Fitz, tripping over her feet in the process. Grady and Keefe glared at her from the doorway.

"Gone to the bathroom eh?" Keefe said his eyebrow raised his glare turned on Fitz. Sophie also noticed him fidgeting intensely. Fitz grinned.

 _"I knew he'd follow me if I told him where I was going but I needed to check on you. And... I'm glad I did."_ Fitz transmitted. Keefe let out a small growl and walked over grabbed Fitz's arm and began to drag him out the door.

"I swear, if I have to interrupt one more secret conversation..." Sophie heard him mumble before they both were out of sight. She couldn't keep a small smile off her face.

"Want to tell me what that was all about?" Grady asked raising an eyebrow. Sophie sighed and opened her mouth to find a way to deny whatever he was implying but it caught in her throat. He seemed to take in her tear-streaked face and his features softened. "Later." He said wrapping Sophie up in a big hug. Sophie sank into it and squeezed him tight as she could. She suddenly heard raised conversation from downstairs and released her strangle hold on Grady.

"What's going on?" She asked. Grady smiled slyly.

"What's happening is that the tides may have finally turned in our favor. I received a hail from the collective right after I got the call from Alden. It really was nice to hear some good news for a change. As of about 10 minutes ago, Mr Dizznee seems to have finally cracked the code to Fintan's cache.

 **Yay! On to chapter 3!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! I'm so happy that people are actually reading! Yay! Here is the next chapter, but first, REVIEW RESPONSES! (and yay! More than last time! You have no idea how happy that makes me!)**

 _ **Smiles: Haha, YES! It is only a matter of time! I have some pretty crazy plans for the poor keeper clan, and even MORE so for Sophie and Fitz. *mischievous smile* And I can definetely agree to the Percabeth obsessing. *faints***_

 _ **LOL: Hehe, yes nothing like a good cliffhanger I say. ( well, actually I only say that when I'm the one writing it. When I'm reading one I always wish they don't exist. *cough* Lodestar, *cough*.**_

 _ **The Quantum Shadow: Of course, I will be fair to both teams. I try to not write fanfiction totally biased and to tell the truth, don't really like fanfictions that are so unfairly one-sided as far as teams go. I will include bits of both :) Thank you for reading!**_

 **And now... On to chapter three!(a tad bit longer)**

Sophie tripped over her own feet as she stumbled down the stairs, taking them two at a time. Truthfully she didn't care a bit, so caught her mind was on this new development. Her brain was spinning out crazy theories about what the cache might contain with every step she took. Dex and many of the black swan's technopath's had been trying to breach the security to the cache of Fintan for weeks. And she hadn't recieved a hint as to their progress. Her brain had been so caught up on... other things.

She reached the last flight of stairs and didn't slow her pace a bit. She reached the bottom and tried to slow down, ending up crashing unceremoniously into a startled Granite. He turned and his rocky features cracked as he smiled.

"A good day to you, Ms. Foster." He said. She nodded quickly and mumbled an apology. He smiled further as she pushed past him. Her eyes scanned the small crowd until finally landing on the strawberry-blonde, periwinkle eyed boy she was looking for. She ran forward and tackled him in a tackle hug.

"I heard what happened Sophie, I'm so sorry." He said when she stepped back. She was shocked to realize his cheeks were not red like they usually were on the rare occasions she hugged them. His hair had the same blond undertones brought out by the hair product Biana had shown him nearly a month ago, and his dimples caved in his cheeks like they usually did. His eyes seemed heavy, and lacked their usual life.

"Later." She finally replied. " We have more important things to worry about." She turned her gaze to the marble-like ball in his hands. He fiddled with it, and squirmed slightly when he noticed her looking at it. He finally nodded, understanding. He cleared his throat, calling for attention, and everyone gathered round, some looking expectant, some weary. Sophie scanned the faces of the collective, her friends, her parents, and the goblin bodygaurds. She turned her attention to Dex as he pulled out a strange looking machine that looked like a pyramid with a crater in the top. He gently placed the cache in the snug dip at the top. The cache flashed green and suddenly startled, Sophie jumped back as a floating hologram appeared in the air in front of her displaying the words; 'password granted'. Sophie choose to ignore the snickers that came from across the room that were sure to be Keefe's, and stepped forward again.

The cache spun and everybody watched in anticipation as a new screen flashed before them. Sophie stared in confusion as a blurry list of names and abilities in alphabetic order appeared in the air before them.

"A list of members." Grady breathed and everybody let out a small gasp. Dex studied it a moment then shook his head.

"It's a fake." He replied, frowning. " You see the way the way there is the same number of each abilities, and the way the names are receptant of each other? Not to mention the way the corners blink, or the light erantel splotches in between the ruts of the cache."

Everybody stared at him. He released a sigh and Sophie had to smile. Dex still hadn't gotten used to the fact that most of them couldn't understand technology talk the same way he had become a recurring thing for him to have to repeat himself, using simpler words. Multiple times.

" Erantel is a mineral that turns to liquid as it is put under intense pressure. It is mined and is what is used to block the Council's imparters from calls of people not approved. It naturally opposes any technology, sort of the way two negative ends of a magnet push against each other. It requires vocal tuning to mellow and remove its resistance. This being Fintan's cache, requires a particular strike of vocal chording."He paused a moment.

" Fintan's vocal chording. As for the members and abilities, such a list is obviously computer generated. You see, technology only works in patterns. A technopath would have had to, himself know all of its contents, then would have had to do it by hand for it to be real. And while not only that would take an insane amount of time, I'm also certain Fintan wouldn't have wanted that kind of info being known by anybody besides himself. So instead he would have inserted the information into a processor to mix a jumbled version and spit it back out."

"But why go to so much trouble for a bunch of fake identities?" Fitz interrupted.

"It's impossible to know all the reasons behind his strategy, but my guess was to deter people like us from finding out its real contents, should it fall into the wrong hands." He replied. "The only reason I can tell is because I've spent the past week memorizing the base code to its security. I've noticed similar traces throughout it all. I never would have noticed anything different about this list if I hadn't."

"Then how do we view the real stuff?" Sophie asked. They really needed to change the subject. All this talk about technology was giving her a headache. Then it hit her. He said the Erantel needed vocal recognition to mellow its resistance. So they needed Fintan's voice.

"Well, that's why I came. I was hoping..." Dex started, But Sophie was already making her way across the room. She grabbed Keefe by the arm and pulled him toward Dex and the cache.

"Fintan's voice is needed to grant access right?" She asked Dex.

"Yes, that's correct." He replied, understanding dawning in his eyes. "Oh! I get it." He said and they both turned there attention to the confused Keefe.

"What was that for, Foster?" Keefe said, rubbing the spot where Sophie had grabbed him. He paused.

"What are you guys staring at?" He asked and Sophie sighed

"Fintan's voice. We need you to mimic Fintan's voice to gain access to the cache." Fitz said, appearing behind him and gently whacking him on the back of the head.

"Dude. How many times do I have to tell you. Don't. Touch. The. hair." He replied indignantly. Fitz only shrugged, a small smile appearing on his lips. Keefe turned his attention back to Sophie.

"I knew that." He said. "Now, what do I have to say?"

Dex shook his head, but Sophie could see a smile creaking at the edges of his lips. "I don't think it matters what you say, only that it sounds _exactly_ like Fintan." He continued his smile disappearing.

"Don't you go doubting the Keefester, Dizznee." Keefe replied with a smirk. Dex remained stone-faced.

"Well, I hope your as confident as you say because, if the kind of information that's stored in there is as important as we think, Fintan is sure to have a self destruct feature built in in the case that the voice doesn't match exactly." He said. Keefe turned a little white.

"Oh." Was all he said.

"All you have to do is touch the top of the cache and speak into it and then..." He paused and gulped. "If I where you, I'd step back." Keefe nodded unsurely and began to step toward it. Sophie stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you sure you can Mimic him well enough?" She said. " I don't want you to take the risk if your not sure." His smile returned as he replied.

"No need to worry about about me, Foster. Not with so many people around." He slyly said and winked at her. Sophie rolled her eyes but turned to look at the collective and her family. She had nearly forgot they were there, so quiet they were being. Her parents eyes looked sad but proud as well, as they shot her small smiles. She smiled back then turned to face Keefe, just in time to see him press the top of the cache. She closed her eyes and felt Fitz's fingers twine with her own and they braced for the possible explosion. She heard Keefe's shaky, 'here we go' before a diffrent voice filled her ears. Even though she knew it was really Keefe, Fintan's voice still sent a shudder down her spine and she felt Fitz twitch slightly beside her.

"I'm going to ask you a question, and I need an honest answer. If you could save one person here, who would it be?" The deep voice said, echoing through her ears. Keefe had told her a while back about the strange lessons Fintan had had with Keefe during his time with the Neverseen. The memories must be the first things that came to mind for him. But the voice wasn't finished.

"I am a termite infested dirt-bag." It said, and Sophie barely held in a laugh. Apparently the lessons were not the only thing that came to mind. She heard a short click and opened her eyes to see the cache flash green. She released the breath she'd been holding. Echoing sighs of relief and congratulations to Keefe filled the room.

"Well, at least the boy is good for something." She heard Grady whisper to Edaline. His retort was quickly met by a sharp nudge and a glare. Sophie laughed at that.

"Thank you, thank you." Keefe said, taking exaggerated bows.

"I knew you could do it." Sophie said matter of factly.

"Of course you did!"Keefe replied, grinning.

"I don't know." Fitz interrupted. " You looked pretty pale." He shot Sophie a grin.

"Yeah, whatever," Was Keefe's only reply. Sophie and Fitz laughed at that. Suddenly, it came to Sophie's attention that the room had gone silent. She followed everybody's gaze to the hologram that had somehow processed before them. Sophie's eyes widened as she saw a beautiful shape that looked kind of like seaweed but had sharp edges Spinning in mid-air.

"What is that?" Sophie asked, in barely a whisper. All was quiet until a tiny voice interrupted from the far corner of the room. Sophie whipped her head around and saw her little sister, trembling with wide eyes facing the gathered elves. She gulped and her wide-eyes connected with Sophie's.

"Divinty." She said. " Bringer of purity."

 **YAY! Sorry for ending it there... Chapter 4, Here I come!**


	4. Author Note

**Hey guys! I know right? I'M STILL ALIVE! SO sorry about that by the way. My life has been ABSURD for a while, so I felt you guys deserved to know that I hadn't dropped of the face of the earth... :)Also I apologize to those who got all excited, thinking this was the next chapter... I promise you, Chapter 4** ** _is_** **in the works. It should be up soon, but... ya know, I wont promise anything... Anyway, also, big news! I'll be launching a new fanfic soon all about Sophie and Fitz finishing their cognate training! More details on that later... Bye!**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hey guys! WOOHOO! The day has finally come when Chapter 4 will be posted! A million apologies that it took... about... 7 months. Hope it is worth the wait! Sorry its so short, one of the things I'm working on. Long chapters. Anywho, here are the review responses!**_

 _ **SMILES: Yup, that's kinda the point of cliffhangers. XD Yes, I am coming up with a new meaning for the word Divinty. More on that in later chapters, so you can rest assured it has nothing to do with Hindu religion or divinity candy.(They are very good. One of my favs) Thank you so much! I try to put as much descriptive writing as possible in what I write. And I'm glad you like the Sophitz! Its hard for me because I always want it to be perfect, but real. And that's really hard to do. Some fanfictions its all really cheesy and the plot and conflict just get overrun with cheesiness. I struggled a little bit with that in this chapter, but I think I got it leveled back out. I agree with your pattern discovery. Very interesting... Thanks for reading!**_

 ** _TEAM SOPHIE: Sorry, here you go!_**

 _ **PERSON: Thank you! Yeah, punctuation is something I struggle with. I'm working on getting an editing partner but hopefully this chapter turned out okay. I'll be sure to be extra diligent about it in the future!**_

 _ **SILLYLILLY765: Sorry. here you go!**_

 ** _CRESSO7O: Thank you! Truly a big relief to know people like it. :)_**

 _ **SOPHITZ4EVER: Yes, Amy is a character that I'm still trying to figure out. She wasn't in this chapter much(You'll see why) but I do plan to explore her some more! Glad your enjoying it. :)**_

 _ **GUEST: Woah, easy there. Here you go! *runs and hides* XD**_

 _ **SOPHITZ FOREVER: Yep, here's chapter 4. I'm not yet what role Fintan is going to play. You've given me something to think about! Thank you for checking everyday, but you don't have to. More like every week would be good. It takes me some time to squeeze in time to write. Thanks for reading!**_

 _ **BOOKSAREMYLIFE: Thank you, I enjoyed adding that in. I try to make it as real and comparable to the real books as possible!**_

 ** _THEGREATSOPHIEVACKER: I'll try, thanks for reading! (Btw, LOVE your username)_**

 ** _SILVERMOONLARK: Here you go!_**

 _ **Alright! Happy reading!**_

Sophie's little sister looked nervously around the room at all the gathered elves. A thick silence had blanketed itself over everyone and it seemed as though the words had never been spoken at all. Sophie just stared at her and Amy stared back. She took a small, tentative step toward her then stopped. Sophie couldn't hold herself back anymore. She ran across the room and threw her arms around her little sister.

Time seemed too slow as she felt Amy hug her back. Finally she pulled away and saw a mixture of confusion and determination light in Amy's eyes.

"Oh, Amy I…" Sophie started, but Amy shook her head. She started to say something and then it turned into another shake of her head. Sophie, a little bit ruffled at being pushed away, took a step back, stumbling over her feet as she went. She felt two sets of hands support her and help her regain her footing. She looked back and saw Fitz and Keefe… was it, glaring at each other? The silence once again took a heavy place in the room. Amy watched the scene with one eyebrow raised. "Uh, this is Fitz and Keefe." Sophie said, remembering she hadn't introduced her to her friends yet. Fitz took a step forward with his hand stretched out to shake.

"Hi I'm F…" His politeness was it erupted as he tripped over a outstretched foot. Sophie noticed Keefe promptly look innocent. Amy's eyebrow arched higher. Again silence. Sophie glanced back at the adults, her eyes begging for some help, but they all looked completely puzzled over what to say or do. With a sigh, Sophie realized they were all waiting for her to do something. Elvin social skills needed some improvement. Especially when it came to humans. She opened her mouth to say something, anything.

"Divinty." Amy said abruptly. "That's what they said. 'Take them to Nightfall. The divinty is waiting.' Her voice trailed off. "At least I think they said it. It's kind of a jumble." Her voice was getting weaker and strained. "They're voices feel distant, like I've heard them, but in a different way than I usually hear things, like. It was. Only heard. By." Her voice was only a pail whisper. My. Mind." She shuddered, her eyes rolling back into her head and crashed to the floor. Everyone gawked. She had only been awake for hardly any time. And said even less. Her words were even more concerning.

"Amy!" Sophie cried as she bent down to see if she was okay. "She's burning up." She said, feeling Amy's forehead.

"We have to get her back up to your room." Fitz said as he gently put his arms under Amy and began to carry her up the stairs. Sophie followed him, her mind reeling. He draped Amy onto Sophie's bed. They both stood staring for a while, unsure of what to do.

"She looks so fragile." Sophie said. She shook her head. "Something has to be wrong, she seemed fine a minute ago, just when we asked her and she said..." Sophie drew in a sharp breath as a new realization hit her. " What if the Neverseen did something to her?" Her eyes were wide. "She said something about hearing them with her… mind, Fitz they could have messed with her brain! And if they did." She paused and put her face in her hands. "Again it would be my fault." Fitz looked worried and took a moment to respond.

"I understand we don't know anything yet, and I do know that lately the Neverseen have taken this mess up a whole nother level so I can't be sure that it's out of the realm of possibility but…" he sighed. " Sophie you need to know one thing. If the others were up here right now they would agree. Nothing we find about the Neverseen's plans for Amy or for your family or the whole world will ever be your fault. They're are too many elements and shades and aspects for anything to be one person's fault. Especially you. You've had so much thrown at you and no matter what you always come back stronger. Please, Sophie. We need you to be strong I, need you to be strong." His voice quivered and he looked away. His words were like a million buckets of icy water splashing on top of her. She realized just how pouty she sounded. She straightened her shoulders and stood taller. Gently she turned his head back towards hers and looked him squarely in the eyes.

" _Thank you."_ She transmitted. " _Your always there for me. All of you are. I could never be the moonlark without you guys."_ His smile lit up the room.

" _My pleasure."_ He transmitted back. " _I'm assuming you have a plan?"_

She opened her mouth to say no right as a plan began to form. He laughed

"Why do I even ask anymore?" He said out loud. She chewed her bottom lip.

"I was just remembering our Cognate Training. One of the exercises…"

Oh! I thought that would be the last thing on your mind, but okay." He interrupted and plopped in one of her plush chairs. " I'm ready."

"What?" Sophie was confused.

"For you to tell me your big secret. Duh." She rolled her eyes and kicked his shin.

"Ow! Fine. I'll just keep working on guessing." Sophie chose to ignore him.

"Come on, I'll explain when I tell the others." She turned and began to descend the stairs. Fitz caught up to her. A moment passed before he said something.

"You really are a hard one to read, Sophie."

"Ugh. That's what Keefe says."

"Dang it, he's stealing all my lines.

"You sure it's not the other way around?" They laughed at that and for a moment Sophie was able to forget about the Divinty, the Cache, and the limp form on her bed. She felt determined again. She would not let her friends down. Besides now,

She had a plan.


End file.
